


good luck with the tolstoy

by worstgirl



Series: matilda/bmc [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Matilda the Musical - Minchin/Kelly
Genre: Based on the musical, Gen, I’ve never read anna karenina, Jake has a scottish accent, Jake is Miss Phelps, Jeremy is Miss Honey, M/M, Matilda au, Rich is Matilda, Self-Hatred, The Squip is Trunchbull, and two-river cast, don’t come for me, i just found quotes, mentions of homophobia/internalized homophobia, mentions of past emotional abuse, my friend insisted on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22451569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worstgirl/pseuds/worstgirl
Summary: “Goodbye, Mr. Phelps. See you next week.”“Goodbye, Mr. Honey. And good luck with the Tolstoy.”***or, one singular scene from matilda but gayer.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Jake Dillinger, Rich Goranski & Jeremy Heere
Series: matilda/bmc [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615513
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16
Collections: •°•adorable shit•°•





	good luck with the tolstoy

The first time Jeremy Honey met the handsome librarian, he could barely speak. He’d crashed into him, dropping his books all over the floor. He’d stammered out an apology, cheeks flushing red and eyes trained on the floor as he tried gathering up the leather bound tomes scattered across the floor. He glanced up for a singular moment, and their eyes locked. 

He’d read about this in the romance novels he hid at the bottom of the stack of books, except he’d never truly thought to put himself in the romantic’s shoes. Jeremy Honey wasn’t a romantic. He was just a terrified, pathetic young man who wasn’t even fit to teach.

But god, those eyes made him feel like he was frozen for a moment, his hand stilling on the one book—  _ Anna Karenina. _

“Tolstoy.” The man said, and Jeremy had to blink, hard. 

“Sorry?” 

“Tolstoy. He’s a fabulous writer.” The man picked it up, dusting off the cover, before handing it to Jeremy. He grabbed it, holding it to his chest, as if the pages could keep his heart from being too loud. 

“He— He really is.” He stammered out, his cheeks red. A second look at the man gave him even more questions. In addition to the thick Scottish accent, the man had the most beautiful— no, not beautiful. Perfect— eyes, and a rather hideous sweater in blue and green. On a grandmother, it would look charming, of course, but this man was definitely not a grandmother. He couldn’t be much older than Jeremy’s twenty-one. And yet, he somehow did make it look charming, in an odd way. 

“ _ Love those who hate you. _ ” 

“I— what?”

“A quote, from the book.” The man tapped the cover, before he stood, holding out a hand to Jeremy. He had to resist the urge to flinch away from the hand, before he played it off by standing up on his own. 

“Ah— I haven’t read it yet.” He held the book tight to himself, looking embarrassed. He checked the nametag pinned to that somehow hideous yet not sweater— Jake Phelps. 

Jake laughed, and God, did Jeremy’s heart feel strangled. “You’re too cute.” Then he paused. “Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Jake Phelps, head librarian.” He extended his hand, and Jeremy shook it, not flinching this time. He felt almost proud of himself.

“Jeremy Honey, I teach at Crunchem Hall Primary.” He braced himself for the usual lip curl at the mention of the school. Most people knew its reputation by now. 

However, Jake’s eyes lit up. “I have a boy who comes in here often who’s starting there tomorrow. Richard Wormwood. Lovely boy, extremely intelligent. Tells the most fantastic stories.” 

“I believe he’s on my class list, yes. I’ll keep an eye out for him.” He gave a small smile. It was always nice to have a bright mind in his class. 

Jake smiled. “Then he’ll be yours, won’t he? I’m sure you’re a wonderful teacher, Mister Honey.” He looked over towards the door, before sighing. “I should get back to the front desk, shouldn’t I? It was a pleasure meeting you.”

And so Jeremy was left standing at the nonfiction section, holding  _ Anna Karenina  _ to his chest like a lifeline. God, what was this feeling? His heart was beating so fast, his face was so red, he couldn’t handle this feeling. This was wrong, he wasn’t supposed to feel like this. 

As he left the aisle, gripping the books to his chest, he noticed Jake speaking to a boy who couldn’t be older than seven. “Goodbye, Mr. Phelps.” He blurted out, even though he was clearly interrupting something. “See you next week.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Honey.” He said, giving Jeremy a quick grin. Then he winked, pointing at the book. “And good luck with the Tolstoy.” 

Jeremy almost ran into the child in front of him— a small boy with dusty blonde hair and wide eyes that seemed to hold the answer to everything in the universe inside them. Then he walked on, letting them continue their conversation. 

Later that night, when he sat next to the fire in his house reading  _ Anna Karenina  _ by lamplight, he couldn’t get the other man out of his head. Something about him was so… intriguing, perfect, utterly breathtaking. He’d never thought he could love like this— he’d always been told that he wasn’t able to love, that he didn’t deserve it. But this feeling was so… wonderful. His heart was pounding and his face was flushing and he couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face. 

He looked down at the book, running his fingers over the line on the page.  _ “Love. The reason I dislike that word is that it means too much for me, far more than you can understand.”  _

And, to himself by the fire in his tiny shack in the middle of nowhere, he smiled. Tomorrow was a big day, and maybe he could visit the handsome boy at the library after school. He sighed, letting his book close and his head lean against the wall, taking off his glasses. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad year, maybe it was time for a change. Maybe for once in his life he’d be in control of something, and his uncle couldn’t do a thing about it. 

**Author's Note:**

> i’m gonna write more for this au probably?? and wow look posting fanfiction for the first time in more than a month and it’s for a ship/au no one cares about so have this!! 
> 
> please comment if you liked this/want to see more of it!! i crave validation!!
> 
> stay safe, and stay wonderful, loves!!
> 
> ~percy


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